Belbin, Agosto say they are ready for worlds

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto accentuated the positive during their pre-worlds media teleconference Wednesday.

Not only has Agosto recovered from a back injury, allowing the five-time U.S. ice dance champions to compete at the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles in 10 days, but they might just be better than ever, they said.

That wasn't the case at the Grand Prix Final in December, where Agosto's back pain forced the couple to withdraw after the original dance.

"I was diagnosed with a herniated disk in my lower back and also a bulging disk," he said. "We weren't able to trace it to any traumatic incident; it just started getting worse and worse until finally it was really bad."

Agosto was off the ice for three weeks, forcing the couple to miss the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a chance at a sixth consecutive title. In their absence, their former training mates Meryl Davis and Charlie White easily won their first U.S. crown.

Now, after rest, therapy and several injections, Agosto said he is fully fit.

"I [started with] baby steps, stroking," he explained. "From there on it's been gradual adding, adding, walking the fine line between getting the work done that needs to be accomplished, but not injuring myself again.

"At this point I don't really feel that I'm tentative; I feel I can go into my elements with the same vigor."

Belbin went even further, not only is she ready to compete, she's improved her technique. "I didn't take a day off while he was recovering. I trained the day after we came back from the Grand Prix Final," she said. "It gave me great opportunity to work on my extension, my control . . . maybe this had been a blessing in disguise. It's always hard to find time to work on basic technique by yourself."



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Irish Lass Sur Le Glace

Ireland's Clara Peters made history for the republic when she competed at the 2009 European Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Peters became the first Irish skater to compete at an ISU championships when she finished 38th at Europeans.

"It was great to skate around and see all the fans and have all the people cheer when the called my name," she said. "It was an amazing feeling. I was comforted to have support from the Irish fans in the crowd."

"I had no great expectations," Peters said. "I was pretty nervous. My goal was to have fun and skate well. I was happy to just stay on my feet for the whole program. I didn't want to come last and I didn't. If I had done my best and still come last because everyone else skated their best, then I'd be happy knowing I improved over my last competition. If I placed higher because everyone else skated poorly, it wouldn't be the same."

Earlier in the season, she became the first Irish skater to compete at an ISU Junior Grand Prix when she placed 31st at Czech Skate in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

"My goal was to get out and get some exposure," Peters said. "I had not competed internationally before Ostrava, just in Ireland with a few girls. I'm learning how to deal with all the nerves, the stress, and the excitement that comes with competing against people from all over the world. I love learning about the different cultures and I'm learning a lot about things they do off ice, how they cope and how they prepare themselves to compete. I'm just finding out what I need to do because the sport is so new in Ireland." Full article.

Chock Full of Gold

Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein made a clean sweep of the major junior titles this season, both in the United States and internationally, hauling in gold at every event in which they competed.

After starting the season by winning their two Junior Grand Prixs in Italy and Great Britain, the couple won the SBS ISU Junior Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating in Goyang City, Korea in December.

They followed up by winning the U.S. National Junior ice dance title in January and the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria in February. They won each phase of the competition at each event.

"It was just so amazing being out there," Chock said of Junior Worlds. "It was absolutely incredible and everything just felt good. It has been such a great experience this year."

"Last year, we just wanted to get ourselves out there and show internationally what we are capable of," Zuerlein added. "This year we're more polished and ready. Our goal was to medal at the Final and at Junior Worlds. There was a lot of pressure on us to win Junior Worlds after we won the Final, but we tried not to think about it."

"We want to skate well and show what we have," Chock continued. "We knew that we had it in ourselves to win and hoped for the right circumstances."

"Our long-term goal is to reach the Olympics, at least 2014," Zuerlein shared. "It would be a dream come true to go in 2010, but that's probably too much to hope for."

"We're not sure yet what we'll do for next season," Chock said when asked. "We'll most likely be seniors in the U.S., which is a big step, and we hope to have another successful season."

The dancers both overcame injuries this season. Chock had tendonitis in her Achilles tendon, while Zuerlein broke his hand playing softball last summer. "I had my hand in a splint for about a month," he said. "I could skate but we couldn't do lifts."

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Delobel continues rehab of her injured shoulder

The question everyone involved in ice dancing seems to be asking is whether or not Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, the 2008 world gold medalists, will be ready to go to Los Angeles to defend their title later this month at the 2009 World Championships?

Do not ask for an official answer right now, because no one seems to have one. However, with less than three weeks to go before the start of the event, the duo's participation now seems less and less likely.

"Whatever time [Delobel's recovery] takes, we need to make sure that the problem is completely fixed before we resume training", Schoenfelder stated in mid-January. "We would certainly not go to worlds if we were not fit to play something big. We do not want to go as tourists!" he had added in laughter.

As a matter of fact, Delobel has not yet put a foot back on the ice and is still in the healing process of her injured shoulder. She has left her training base in Lyon, France, for the rehabilitation center in Capbreton, a small resort on the Atlantic Ocean south of Bordeaux.

Delobel injured her shoulder during the gala exhibition at the ISU Grand Prix Final in December in Goyang City, Korea. The duo had been having a fantastic season, winning both of their Grand Prix assignments (Skate America and the Trophée Eric Bompard) and the GP Final. Since the injury, they have withdrawn from the French championships in December and the European championships in January.

Delobel underwent arthroscopic surgery on Jan. 5 and left the hospital on Jan. 9. The operation lasted about three hours instead of two, because the surgeons found that her injury was more serious than they had expected. It was hoped that her being an athlete would speed up the healing process, but her recovery is taking longer than expected, and she had to wait until the first week of February to start rehabilitation in Capbreton.

"You know how Isabelle is," Schoenfelder said. "It is tough for her not to move, because she is always so active. Actually, she wanted to start doing things again right [after her operation], but she almost fainted."

Recovering fast enough to go to Los Angeles for the world championships was "clearly the goal," according to Schoenfelder. As time passes by, though, this goal seems out of reach for the couple.

Schoenfelder, who is studying to become a journalist, has opened a blog for Delobel and himself -- delobel-schoenfelder.fr. On that site, Delobel describes her routines at the Capbreton center.

"We wake up everyday at 7:15 to have breakfast. At 9 a.m., I start with a machine that looks more like it is meant for torture than for rehabilitation. It moves my arm upward and downward for 30 min. Fortunately, I define the amplitude myself."

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Canadians Langlois, Hay withdraw from skating worlds

Former Canadian pairs champions Anabelle Langlois and her partner Cody Hay have pulled out of this month's world figure skating championships in Los Angeles, Skate Canada announced Monday.

Langlois recently underwent additional surgery to remove screws and a metal plate from a spiral fracture to her lower right fibula.

Although Langlois, who suffered the leg injury in 2008, is recovering well, the surgery will keep her off the ice for the next few weeks.

"This entire season has been very challenging and disappointing," said Hay. "Although we tried our best to get back to compete this year, we have also had to think ahead to next season, bearing in mind that competing at the 2010 Olympics is our ultimate goal.

"We're hopeful that this most recent surgery will resolve any future problems and put us on the right track for next season."

Langlois, of Gatineau, Que., suffered the injury during a practice session on July 23 and had surgery a week later. The duo couldn't defend their Canadian title this year in Saskatoon, and also skipped the Four Continents event in Vancouver.

"It is unfortunate that Anabelle and Cody have to miss the season but the No. 1 priority for this team is a solid recovery to get Anabelle back to 100 per cent," said Mike Slipchuk, the high performance director for Skate Canada.

Hay, from Grand Prairie, Alta., said that Langlois is resting and doing well at home with her family.

"We also wanted to let people know how much we appreciate all the support we have received from Skate Canada and the fans throughout the years," he said. "We wish everyone the best at the worlds, and we can wait to get back on the ice."

Mylène Brodeur of Sandbridge Station, Que., and John Mattatall, from Wallace, N.S., will replace Langlois and Hay at the worlds, which is scheduled for March 22-28.

The pairs team finished third at the Canadian championships.

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Navarro and Bommentre Maintain Their Individuality

Kimberly Navarro, who will be 28 in April, and Brent Bommentre, 24, maintained their position at U. S. Nationals in 2009 with a second consecutive bronze medal. They have finished in the top five every year since they started skating together four years ago.

A week after Nationals, they placed sixth at the 2009 Four Continents Championships in Vancouver, a year after winning a bronze medal there. "We just wanted to enjoy this week and get a chance to skate on the Olympic ice," Bommentre said.

The dancers finished 12th at the World Championships last season, but were bumped from the team this year in favor of Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who missed U.S. Nationals due to injury.

"Ben and Tanith deserve to go if Ben's ready," noted Bommentre. "They're our best chance to get three dance teams for the Olympics."

"It gives us a chance to focus on next year," Navarro added. "Last year was difficult because we had a congested season and didn't finish until the end of March. That was the shortest time we ever had to prepare for the next season. We were worried that we wouldn't have time to get comfortable with our programs. It was a huge deal that we got to Nationals and had the performance we wanted."

Robbie Kaine and Cheryl Demkowski Snyder coach the dancers, who train in Ardmore and Aston, Pennsylvania. They usually put in five to six hours on the ice, six days a week.

Each season, the dancers try to add new and different moves to their programs. "We're always working with our choreographers to develop creative new moves," Bommentre said. "All of our lifts are new this season. We're proud that we're not just repeating old stuff."

The dancers went in a new direction with their choreography as well, using choreographers from outside the skating world. "We talked to Cindy Stewart in Los Angeles," Navarro explained. "She's in the know with all the hot choreographers so she recommended Barry Lather and Louis van Amstel."

Louis van Amstel choreographed the couple's original dance using Why Don't You Do Right by Sinead O'Connor and Hey Pachuco.

"We listened to a lot of music," Navarro said. "We played around with some Louie Prima stuff because we wanted something more mature, something to show a relationship between a man and a woman."

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Russia's Leonova moves up to take world junior title

The ladies free program was the last competition of the 2009 World Junior Championships in Bulgaria's capital of Sofia. Alena Leonova from Moscow, who finished fourth at the European championships in January, won the gold medal. She was third in the short program and second in Saturday's free program, but, overall, her 157.18 points were enough to win.

She performed her free skate with an energetic and speedy style. Five of her triple jumps and the two double Axels were clean, but a loop was downgraded.

"The medal means a lot for me, and it took me a lot of time to get there," she commented afterwards. "It was a little shock for me to win here, because I had been 12th and sixth in my other junior worlds. At senior Europeans, the pressure was bigger, but here I tried to focus more on the competition. During the event, I did not think of my jumps, but more on my emotions. And I liked the applause of the public."

Caroline Zhang of the United States rebounded from a disastrous 10th place short program to win the free skate and the silver medal. She landed six clean triple jumps in her free program but had one marked down for being taken off the wrong edge. She also excelled with her spins and an elegant style.

"I gave away most of a chance for the title in my short program but did well today in the long program," she said. "I had tried to stay refocused and not to think about my short program any more. I went back to juniors because I like to compete. In order to qualify for the Olympic team, I have to work on my technique and have to fix a lot of things."

Ashley Wagner, also of the U.S., won the bronze medal with a dynamic program that included five relatively clean triple jumps, but a fall on the triple Salchow cost her the chance to finish higher.

"It was a good program for this week, except for the Salchow," she said. "I will work on a triple-triple combination, after a short break, and plan to put it into competition and will work on my skating skills."

The third American, Katrina Hacker, finished fifth overall after a fourth-place free skate that included three clean triple jumps (Salchow, toe loop and loop). She missed a chance at the podium after one shaky toe loop; her Salchow was also downgraded.

Elene Gedevanishvili, who finished first in Friday's short program, made several mistakes in the long program and ended up sixth overall.

With three skaters in the top five, the U.S. was the most successful nation in the ladies competition. Overall, Team USA won six medals, the most of any federation competing in Bulgaria. Russia won five medals, including two golds, and the Czech Republic earned one.

icenetwork.com

For all the results of the JrWorlds click here.